Author

Megan Taros

Megan Taros

Megan Taros is a freelance reporter for Source NM. She is born and raised in the harbor area of Los Angeles where she began her career covering higher education and local government. She previously launched the South Phoenix beat at the Arizona Republic where she covered race and equity in one of the largest communities of color in the state. She also launched the Latino affairs beat at the Times-News in Twin Falls, Idaho. She is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she covered racial and economic inequality in Queens, New York.

Advocates call on the state to create a new MMIWR task force after shuttering the original

By: - November 20, 2023

For many families of the scores missing and murdered Indigenous people in New Mexico, the onus of finding their family members and getting justice is largely on their shoulders. They sell jewelry and Navajo tacos to get the financial support for their countless hours of searching and to bring awareness to their cause. They print […]

A tale of two Martins: Artificial intelligence takes center stage in Santa Fe

By: - October 16, 2023

As artificial intelligence tests the boundaries of copyright law, labor rights and disinformation, the solutions to rein in its capabilities are about as tenuous as the technology itself. On Friday U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), author George R. R. Martin and University of New Mexico professor Melanie Moses spoke about the potential threats and solutions […]

‘There’s no stopping us now’ League of United Latin American Citizens sets 2024 election goals

By: - August 7, 2023

The road to the White House in 2024 is through the barrios and in Latino households all over the country.  That’s what Domingo Garcia, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, also known as LULAC, often repeated at the nonpartisan group’s national conference in Albuquerque as a call for candidates to show up […]

After 20-year hiatus, youth legislative session returns to Santa Fe

By: - June 23, 2023

If it were up to the 130 students gathered at the Roundhouse on June 16, their weeklong legislative session would’ve expanded mental health services, encouraged more widespread community gardens and challenged education inequities. This year’s youth legislative session was born from a partnership between the National Hispanic Institute, the University of New Mexico and Sen. […]

Free meals for K-12 students proposed in Congress

By: - May 12, 2023

As the start of the next school year approaches, schools in New Mexico are preparing to hand out free meals to all students after the Legislature unanimously passed a bill that would ensure all students have access to food in school, joining four other states in making universal meals a permanent policy. About three-quarters of […]

Cans of beans line the shelves at a grocery store.

‘Perfect storm’ coming for food insecurity in New Mexico

By: - March 31, 2023

When the federal government ended the pandemic expansion of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program this month, Gladys Recinos went from being able to buy food for her family for the entire month to barely making it to 17 days. More realistically, she can cover about 15 days worth of food with her food aid It’s […]

Public school students in New Mexico will soon receive free meals

By: - March 28, 2023

The smell of chicken nuggets and carrots filled the cafeteria at Piñon Elementary in Santa Fe on Monday as cafeteria workers and lawmakers doled out sauces and green apples for the fourth graders eating lunch. Starting next school year, no K-12 student in New Mexico will have to pay for their meals as Gov. Michelle […]

Affirmative consent proposal dies on final day in Santa Fe

By: - March 23, 2023

On the penultimate day of the Legislative session, HB 43, which would’ve made affirmative consent the standard for teaching consent in public schools, sat as the final item on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s agenda. The bill sailed through its previous committees and garnered a commanding House floor vote only to languish in the judiciary committee […]

Affirmative Consent bill stalled in Senate Committee

By: - March 14, 2023

More than 30 students – mostly from Capital High School in Santa Fe – flooded the mailboxes of the Senate Judiciary Committee as part of an action with Girls Inc. of Santa Fe last week with pleas that the committee schedule a hearing for HB 43, which would set affirmative consent as a standard for […]

Kaylee Bahe, left, discusses concerns over language in AP textbooks regarding Native American history with state Sens. Shannon Pinto, Harold Pope, and William Soules at the New Mexico State Capitol on Friday, March 3, 2023, in Santa Fe, N.M. (Photo by Liam DeBonis for Source NM)

Tribal education reform bills stalled in New Mexico Legislature

By: - March 7, 2023

When the Senate Education Committee was over on Friday, March 3, Kaylee Bahe had already been awake for eight hours organizing her thoughts and materials before taking the Rail Runner by herself from Albuquerque to meet with lawmakers. Bahe (Diné), a sophomore at Eldorado High School, was there to speak up about racism she saw […]

NM governor found a way to give pre-k teachers and staff $3 raises. Not everyone qualifies

By: - February 20, 2023

These days it costs $16 for a packet of chicken big enough to feed Alma Ortiz’s family. It’s a big jump from what she’s used to, and she has a hard time being able to afford it. Ortiz is a single mom and early childhood teacher for Youth Development Inc., a Head Start program in […]

Affirmative consent legislation one step away from Senate vote

By: - February 16, 2023

The affirmative consent bill that would make “yes means yes” the baseline for teaching consent in schools received unanimous approval from the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday. It now heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee for review. This is the third time Rep. Liz Thomson (D-Albuquerque) brought the bill to the Roundhouse, and each time […]